Devon Cottage Help A New Buyer

[JakeG]

Hello All, I am buying my first house. Myself and my partner have fallen in love with a property. It's a great location, has outside spaces as it's almost on Dartmoor and has a wonderful village around it. However... it has been passed by previous sellers twice and we wondered why. Our offered got accepted well below the original price as the sellers are wanting rid due to it being inherited and sadly the original owner passing away and they are I assume wanting to close the estate to get the money out. It was previously bought by this gentlemen in 2021 and used as an Airbnb. Since his death it hasn't been inhabited at all for anywhere from 4-6 months we believe. I had a level 3 survey done by an RPSA surveyor and I was initially and overall for most areas am very happy with the survey. However, possibly the largest point the surveyor brought up is the fact that there is damp in the house in a few loactions (I have attached images below) the damp is in the two bedrooms around the 2 chimney walls that feed to the ground floor (the right hand one is not in use and sealed at the bottom). the left hand one is in use with a log burner but only has damp on the upper floor coming through the chimney walls. The damp from the right hand chimney is believed to have moved along the wall possibly passing to the bathroom. This damp however from the chimney and now bathroom wall could possibly be coming from a barn attached next door which is not in good condition. The surveyor surmised it could be coming through the barns wall into the bathroom, as well as through the chimney stack that goes slightly into the barns structure and then down the chimney walls. He did highlight that it looks as if one of the chimney tops on this right hand side has had the chimney pot blown off and looks to have been covered instead by a slab of stone of some sort. The other area is at the back of the kitchen where the ground level is 800mm higher than the internal level. the kitchen has previously been tanked and this appears in good condition still, however the surveyor believes they couldn't reach behind one kitchen unit to tank it. The surveyor mentioned there was a smell possibly from damp. He used a moisture meter to read dampness levels on the areas mentioned throughout and recorded high levels. His recommendations have been to repoint and possibly plaster or repair existing plaster with lime on the in use left hand chimney stack, and check neighbours flashing on roof that is attached to the wall about the level of the first floor bedroom. the right hand chimney advice was reducing the unused right hand chimney stack, have the roof filled to cover this and then vent the chimney flue left behind with air bricks. For the rear kitchen wall he suggested excavating the ground to insert a bitchumin sheet along the length of the kitchen wall externally and then refilling in the dirt. Sadly the ground can't be lowered permanently as it is used as a drive way for other houses.

This had me very concerned for the prospects of buying the house. However doing research and reading Heritage House and on this forum I have gained some hope. My main question is how is it best to cure this damp from the chimneys and also the rear kitchen wall? I originally was looking at gettting a damp and timber surveyor in to recommend course of action and maybe using injectionable solutions for areas but have read this further and found to be a poor choice of solution from research online.

I will be taking a drone to the property to get footage of the barns roof to see any issues there as well as the chimney stacks. I can update the post with this information tomorrow hopefully.

edit: the houses walls are mostly rubble stone except for a small bathroom extension added on. property is believed to be pre1900's. Reading other peoples posts this seems to be useful to include for your advice.

Thank you for any help provided.

 

[malcolm]

The walls look cement rendered with waterproof paint which isn't ideal. It means the walls can't dry to the outside. Dark patches on the outside are mould which needs water to grow and often indicate where the wall is wet (therefore cold and attracting condensation) so might offer more clues.

Chimneys are fairly easy to fix. They tend to be neglected as the scaffolding is expensive. make sure the flaunching and leadwork is in good condition. A disused chimney needs a ventilated cap to stop water getting in but allow air to circulate. There is no need to remove the chimney.

The roof of the barn is allowing water to run down the chimney where it should run onto the roof. It wants new leadwork set to the right angle.

The high ground levels are more tricky. A trench is effective. https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/threads/the-zebcolm-trench.17575/ Less so a bitumen sheet as it won't be 100% effective and the remaining water won't be able to evaporate if the wall is waterproof on both sides.

 

[JakeG]

The walls look cement rendered with waterproof paint which isn't ideal. It means the walls can't dry to the outside. Dark patches on the outside are mould which needs water to grow and often indicate where the wall is wet (therefore cold and attracting condensation) so might offer more clues.

Chimneys are fairly easy to fix. They tend to be neglected as the scaffolding is expensive. make sure the flaunching and leadwork is in good condition. A disused chimney needs a ventilated cap to stop water getting in but allow air to circulate. There is no need to remove the chimney.

The roof of the barn is allowing water to run down the chimney where it should run onto the roof. It wants new leadwork set to the right angle.

The high ground levels are more tricky. A trench is effective. https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/threads/the-zebcolm-trench.17575/ Less so a bitumen sheet as it won't be 100% effective and the remaining water won't be able to evaporate if the wall is waterproof on both sides.From what I can see from when it's been sold before the outside has been rendered like this for a long time. Is it worth the risk taking this off if it's been this way for quite a while? I've narrowed down that I think the damp in the chimneys/ bathroom is down to poor flashing on the chimneys and next doors roof that goes against my external wall having no flashing, a rerender of the chimney stacks maybe and then sorting the flashing and checking the venting should hopefully sort this out.

With the back kitchen wall, I don't know if a trench would work as it is a driveway for 3 houses, having spoken to the owners they don't mind me doing some work which would mean closing it for a day or so. However I don't know if the trench would slowly collapse from the weight of cars driving so close to the edge of it and how long it would take to build anyway. The owner of the driveway did say they think pipework has been laid by another owner next door to me and possibly not very deep so that could get in the way. Was wondering about just tanking behind the unit that got missed when the kitchen was originally tanked?

 

[Zebra]

It all sounds doable if you love the house. It's all a bit of an unknown quantity with old houses, you don't know until you start poking about, but if you're up for it then it's not insurmountable.
Injected damp proof courses - I've not had one ever but I know they're not rated highly by the members of this forum. I was steered away from having one in my own case. In most situations breathability is the way to go, and clearing away anything that bridges the damp proof course if you have one. If the kitchen has been tanked, and the tanking is incomplete, then of course that will be an issue, as the tanking will actually make the wall wetter, the dampness has nowhere to go, so you would end up with smells and mould etc.
Good luck, it sounds doable and we'll be here for you!